She's Never Wrong
by Sub Prime Directive
Summary: When Rose joined her father, Adrian, and Eddie to meet the alchemists who would be taking care of Jill at Palm Springs- she had been under the impression that things would go according to plan. Uneventful, even. A Strigoi attack, a Strigoi Rose once knew as a Moroi, was not on her agenda. It wasn't on Sydney's either.
1. Chapter 1

From Bloodlines, Chapter 4 -

 _I tried to steer the subject away- and get some answers for myself._

 _"I wasn't aware you were joining us, Mr. Mazur." The sweetness in my voice matched his._

 _"Please," he said. "You know you can call me Abe. And I won't be staying, unfortunately. I simply came along to make sure this group arrived safely- and to meet Clarence in person."_

 _"That's very nice of you," I said dryly, sincerely doubting Abe's motives were as simple as that. If I'd learned anything, it was that things were never simple when Abe Mazur was involved. He was a puppet master of sorts. He not only wanted to observe things, he also wanted to control them._

 _He smiled winningly. "Well, I always aim to help others in need."_

"Yeah," a new voice suddenly said. "That's exactly what comes to mind when I think of you, old man."

I hadn't thought anyone could shock me more than Abe, but I was wrong.

"Rose?" The name came out as a question from my lips, even though there could be no doubt about who this newcomer was. There was only one Rose Hathaway, after all.

ROSE

"Hey, Sydney," I said, giving her a small, crooked smile as I entered the room. Another human was sitting in a chair near the corner of the room, and I noted the greasy blond hair and arrogant expression- he was also dressed very similar to Sydney. An Alchemist. I wondered if a drab fashion sense was as much a requirement for them as a strong religious devotion. One look at Sydney told me she was still wearing the cross I'd seen her constantly fiddling with in Siberia.

"Hey, other Alchemist."

He stared at me wide-eyed, and I wondered if it was the half-vampire thing or the fact that I looked hot as hell today. I wanted to decide on both, but by the way he was constantly assessing the room, it became clearer that it was fear of being outnumbered. He and Sydney were the only humans in the room, and more "unnatural" creatures like myself continued to arrive.

"I-I'm Keith," he stammered. So much for the arrogance. I introduced myself.

"Rose Hathaway."

If possible, his eyes bugged out even more. I guess I'd never be able to shake my reputation as a murderer. Well, accused murderer. Although I might as well have indeed killed the late Moroi queen by the way some people treated me. That kind of thing wasn't easily forgotten. Especially not among the gossipers at Court.

I made my way over to Clarence, and felt sympathy wash over me while studying him. He may not have been a spirit user, but the way his mind was deteriorating, and how his paranoia consumed him, reminded me of Sonya Karp before Lissa and I broke out of the academy. She'd willingly turned Strigoi to get away from spirit's madness, and had been restored by another user- Robert Doru. I'd hardly thought twice about him since Dimitri had hid his unconscious body in some bushes. Right after I'd murdered his step-brother, Victor Dashkov.

So maybe people like Keith had some semblance of accuracy when associating me with murder. Albeit after all this time, I'd concluded Victor had deserved it.

"I checked the house's perimeter like you asked. It's about as safe as you can make it, although your back door's lock should probably be replaced."

Like that would stop a Strigoi. Not that that was a big concern, at least not out here in Palm Springs. There were very little reports of vampire attacks in this area, if any. The sun was pretty hard to handle even for humans- making it particularly unpopular for Moroi, and therefore, Strigoi.

"Are you sure?" Clarence asked in disbelief. "It's brand new."

Something about that statement bothered me.

"Maybe when this house was built," Lee said from the doorway. "It's been rusted since we moved here."

Seeing as Lee was definitely more in tune with his surroundings than Clarence, I decided to take his word for it.

Lee seemed intrigued with Sydney and Keith, and I wondered if it was because they were Alchemists. As far as I knew, Lee attended college here in California, so the fact that Sydney and Keith were humans couldn't be what was so interesting to him. In fact, even if Lee didn't regularly mingle with humankind, any kind of fascination wouldn't have been on the table. To most Moroi and Dhampirs, if not all, humans were either feeders, Alchemists, or just not noteworthy. It had been that way for me too, until I met Sydney. Aside from being an Alchemist, I liked to think of her as my friend.

And after helping me escape being executed for high treason, tracking down and proving Lissa wasn't the last Dragomir, on top of our time in Russia- I hoped she thought of me that way too.

"I'm Lee Donahue," he said, extending his hand. Keith didn't take it. It wasn't polite, but it also wasn't the most mistrustful I'd seen an Alchemist behave. When I first met Sydney, she could hardly stand to be in the same room as me. "Hardly" also meaning not at all, since she'd had to leave our room the first night on the train towards Baia in an effort to keep away from me.

She took Lee's hand instead, and introduced the herself and Keith.

Lee's expression turned from intrigue to wonder.

"Alchemists, right? I've never met one of you. The tattoos you guys have are beautiful," he said, giving Sydney's cheek a good look. "I've heard about what they can do."

"Donahue?" Keith spoke up. He glanced between Lee and Clarence, apparently making a connection. "Are you related?"

Lee gave Clarence an indulgent look. "Father and son."

Keith frowned. The more he talked the more I didn't like him, but I couldn't really pinpoint why.

"But you don't live here, do you?"

At first I found that question odd, until remembering the nature of Alchemists. If Keith was asking, it meant he didn't know, and Alchemists don't like not knowing. Lee took Keith's questioning in stride.

"Not regularly, no," said Lee. "I go to college in LA, but my schedule's just part-time this semester. So, I want to try to spend more time with Dad."

Abe shot me a glance. "You see that? Now that's devotion."

A retort about his absence for my first 17 years of life was on the tip of my tongue, but instead I opted to rolled my eyes, and Clarence spoke again.

"I could've sworn I had that lock replaced." This was his second remark about the lock. The more he insisted, the more on edge I became.

"Well, I can replace it soon if you want," said Lee. "It can't be that hard."

"I think it's fine," Clarence rose unsteadily to his feet. "I'm going to take a look."

A sudden feeling came over me, a nausea I didn't think would return. Not after getting shot by Tasha Ozera during the climax of the Moroi election.

"Wait," I said, grabbing hold of both their arms. Eddie stood up straighter, preparing himself for a danger he really had no sense of. It spoke volumes about the trust he had in me.

Maybe nearly dying, again, had broken my bond with Lissa- but it seemed likely now that I still had my connection to the dead, or in this case, the undead. Being so preoccupied with Lissa at Court, in the safety of the wards, hadn't given me an opportunity to face any Strigoi after she became queen. I really hoped that opportunity wouldn't present itself now.

"Stay here, nobody move," I ordered. Abe looked like he wanted to say something, but I threw him a meaningful look that changed his mind.

I brought out my stake, and Eddie mirrored me. The closer I moved to the door, the stronger the nausea grew. A sharp pang of worry for Adrian hit me in my gut until I remembered seeing him step outside for a cigarette. As part of a condition of dating me, he'd promised to give those up. That quickly fell through after my betrayal. It was a habit that always bugged me about him and yet I couldn't be more grateful for it now. He was in the safety of the sun.

Before softly opening the door, I glanced back at Eddie, who looked ready for anything. "Could be nothing."

It was a possibility. What if an effect of mine and Lissa's bond breaking was false Strigoi warnings? Like some kind of phantom pain, or a placebo effect. My body playing tricks on me.

Eddie's face told me he was doubtful. He trusted my instincts perhaps even more than I did.

I slipped outside the room, hearing Eddie lock the door behind me. If there indeed was any danger, it was smart to take much as much precaution as necessary.

SYDNEY

Keith didn't look as scared as I felt.

Considering how much more experience I'd had with Strigoi, that just didn't seem possible. He'd appeared pretty uncomfortable while Clarence was protesting about his lock, but now it was as if he wasn't worried about anything at all.

Until he saw me looking at him.

He quickly stood, and stepped further away from the door- which Eddie was currently guarding- perhaps in an attempt to look frightened. What I didn't get was why he wouldn't be already. If a Moroi poking him in the back was enough to terrify him, where was his fear of the worst, and most dangerous kind of vampire, the Strigoi?

"It's probably nothing, who knows what she's on about," Keith said. I realized what his problem was. To him, it looked like Rose was just paranoid about the lock. Keith had underestimated _zmey_ , thinking the stories about him were overrated, and now Rose. His imbecilic judgement towards the most dangerous people I knew was laughable.

"She can sense them," I said. Keith looked at me in confusion. "Sense what?"

"Strigoi. I've seen it." My personal confirmation made him falter. "She's never wrong."

His mistrust never left his face, but I could see what I said had finally got him to act a little worried. Before he could make another stupid comment, Clarence got everyone's attention with a harsh whisper.

"It's no Strigoi. It's those vampire hunters, they've finally come for me, just like they did my niece!" Everyone in the room seemed surprised. Except maybe Eddie, who was still focused on whatever was, or wasn't, outside the door. Keith seemed startled, but ignored Clarence's outburst.

"She just said she checked the perimeter, and anyways, the sun's right outside. It's the middle of the day. It can't be Strigoi, and I'm pretty sure it isn't 'vampire hunters' either," Keith scoffed. This time Eddie weighed in.

"You would be surprised by what kind of bad things happen during the day," Eddie said solemnly. "Now be quiet."

I hoped Keith wouldn't embarrass us any further and finally decide to shut his mouth. He did so, after a moment, but it was still clear he was skeptical about Rose's abilities. The room went back to a tense silence, soon interrupted by a loud crash coming from somewhere in the house.

ROSE

The second I'd slipped through the heavy French doors, I knew I'd been right about my Strigoi senses.

I crept down the hall, sure to move as stealthily as possible. The nausea had turned into full blown alarm the further through the house I moved. It led me into a dimly lit pool room, but I could still see no sign of an intruder, undead or otherwise.

Until I was thrown into a rack of pool cues.

That hurt, but it my training kicked in and my recovery was quick. It didn't do enough to faze me. What did, however, was the Strigoi I was facing.

It was Robert Doru.


	2. Chapter 2

ROSE

Sort of.

The Robert I'd known was deranged, certifiable- all because of his use of spirit. Now that he was a Strigoi, he had no access to magic. The crazed look in his eyes was gone, and it was almost like seeing a completely different person. But it seems as though a clear mind and new absence of insanity hadn't lessened his devotion for his half-brother Victor. There's no reason Robert would be here other than to avenge him.

"I've been waiting for this, Rosemarie."

The use of my full name felt strange, but since Robert and I hadn't exactly been pals it was probably more appropriate. I also wondered if he'd picked it up from Victor.

"I didn't mean to kill him, Robert. It was the darkness. I would bring him back if I could."

It was true. Except maybe that last part. Victor may have deserved the punishment of death after everything he'd done, but it didn't mean I had to be the one to give it to him. I had felt horrible, filled with guilt and emptiness. Victor was evil, but he was a person, and I'd taken his life.

"That doesn't change the fact that he's dead, and that it was your doing. I've waited for you to leave the wards of Court long enough, I won't stop now."

What he said painfully reminded me of Dimitri's letters. Letters he'd sent as a Strigoi, letting me know that when I left the safety of the St. Vladimir's, he'd be waiting. It wasn't something I liked to think about, but it still tortured him a lot more than me.

I got into a fighting stance and firmed the hold on my stake, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

Robert stayed where he was, and held out his hand, as if he were reaching for something. For a second it made me think he was trying to choke me à la Darth Vader, but then one of the pool cues that had fallen on the ground flew towards him. He caught it with ease, and I was left gawking. I'd seen Robert use spirit for telekinetic abilities, but if he was Strigoi...No. No way.

"That's not possible...You can't have powers."

He slammed the cue on the table, breaking off the end and leaving it jagged and pointed, akin to

a stake.

"There's no life in you, nowhere for your magic to come from."

Robert grinned. "I thought so too. Until I learned not all magic comes from within."

He left me no time to wonder what that meant before springing forward with the cue. Even if Robert was a Strigoi, he wasn't trained like me. I'd anticipated his move and jumped out of the way.

"Shall I stake you? As you've done so many?" He said menacingly.

He strode forward in confidence as I backed away, trying to conjure a plan of action.

"Maybe I'll choke the life out of you."

My throat began to close up, and I wondered if I'd been too quick to dismiss that Darth Vader thought. As my air was being restricted, I reacted impulsively, and swiped at Robert with my stake. A gash appeared on his right forearm, and he dropped his weapon. He hissed, and his controlled manner began to quake.

"I should crack your skull, kill you in an instant!" His voice lowered to a furious whisper, and for a moment he reverted to the deranged Robert I'd known from before. "The same way you did my brother."

The stake in my hand became blisteringly hot. I dropped it, half-expecting to see burn marks on my hand, but there were none.

Compulsion. Strong compulsion. Another example of spirit's abilities.

Robert kicked my stake to the side, and I was thrown against the wall and held there, unable to pull away or discern whether it was because of compulsion or the telekinesis. Maybe both.

He stepped forward, but before he could do any more damage, like say, kill me, I went for the holy grail of last resorts. Stalling. I was a master. If I could stall my death by execution for murder, stall my death by hundred year old Strigoi, and stall my death by _Dimitri_ as a Strigoi, then what was one Robert Doru?

"Wait, wait...You shouldn't be capable of any kind of magic, any connection to life. Please just tell me how, how are you doing this?"

He thought for a moment, and I stupidly hoped he'd turn into some cartoonish villain and start a monologue.

"No."

After grabbing a fistful of my hair, no doubt about to slam my head against the wall- something caught his attention.

Eddie.

SYDNEY

Everyone had fallen silent after hearing the noise, it had sounded like a large piece of furniture had fallen over. But I couldn't be sure.

Eddie tensed up, and I saw his hand reach for the doorknob, but he stopped and glanced around the room. I could tell what he was thinking. He couldn't leave us unguarded, especially Jill- the reason we were all here. Muffled voices leaked through the door. They weren't loud enough for me to hear what was being said, but I did recognize that one of them belonged to Rose. Eddie put his ear closer to the door. With his superior dhampir hearing, he was undoubtedly having better luck.

"I know that voice. Where do I know that voice?" He whispered.

I inched closer to the door, my curiosity winning over my fear. Eddie gave me a look, but didn't protest. An angry bellow carried from down the hallway.

"I should crack your skull, kill you in an instant!"

Eddie whipped the door open. But again, he stopped.

"Go," I said. Rose hadn't killed the Strigoi yet, presuming that's who she was talking to. That meant she was unable. Which meant she was probably injured.

Which meant that loud crash hadn't been the toppling of furniture.

I'd seen her take out multiple Strigoi without fail- I'd gotten rid of the bodies. If this one hadn't been staked the minute Rose had come into contact with it, then we were all in danger. The only thing I could do was hope that Eddie was half the fighter Rose was.

Something told me from the way they'd regarded each other that they had a history. Eddie's earlier comment about bad things happening in the day made me think, and I recalled reading up on an incident in Spokane. When Abe first told me I had to accompany Rose in Russia, the first thing I did was gather as much info on her as possible. Which wasn't much. The Alchemists were very careful with whom they shared their records.

There were three important events I learned about. The car crash that bonded Rose with Lissa, the battle at St. Vladimir's- when Strigoi had broken through the wards, and Rose's first kills. Specifically, the circumstances of those first skills. It had been during daylight hours, and there were others with her. It struck me now that Eddie had probably been one of them.

Whether it was because of that specific incident, or that and a myriad of other events, Rose obviously meant a great deal to him. It wasn't just about protecting a fellow guardian, and I was thankful for that. Despite being wary of her kind, she'd grown on me. She'd grown into a friend, and I perhaps cared about her more than I liked to admit, which is why I urged Eddie to go to her and help.

That, and my own self-preservation instincts. If he was the kind of friend to her I assumed him to be, he'd relent.

"It could be a trap. I can't leave you guys alone."

"If there were more, they would have appeared by now. Go." said Abe sternly. We both turned to look at him, and I thought I saw lines of worry on his face.

Eddie left.

ROSE

Eddie attacked from behind.

He staked Robert in the back, not hard or accurate enough to reach the heart, but it did make him stop whatever he was doing that kept me glued to the wall. Robert let go of my hair, and I stumbled onto the floor. He dropped to his knees and arched his back, writhing in agony. Eddie reared, ready to deliver the final blow.

"Wait!" I exclaimed, "We need him alive!"

I grabbed my stake from the floor and got on top of Robert, holding him down while I drew blood. If he was in pain he couldn't concentrate and use his spirit, and Robert may have powers, but ultimately he was no different than every other Strigoi I'd interrogated and tortured in Russia. Well, he might be more talkative.

"Jesus, Rose. You don't want to restore him, do you?"

"No, that'd only set us back. Find something, anything, to hold him down. I saw some tire chains in the garage."

Eddie looked skeptical, and I wasn't sure if it was about Clarence having tire chains in sunny Palm Springs, or of Robert's importance. I tried explaining further, daring to take my eyes off Robert for one second.

"We need him to tell us-"

I stopped when I felt a sudden pressure in my side, like I'd been punched. Only it felt cold somehow, like I'd been electrocuted but submerged in ice water at the same time. Eddie's face suddenly went white, and he froze.

I'd never seen him freeze. Not after Mason.

He wasn't looking at me anymore, he was looking down at something. What was he looking at? I followed his line of sight to the pool cue Robert had broken into a weapon earlier.

It was sticking out of me.

That cold feeling turned to a rising heat. I felt warm, numb, and distant.

Robert stared at me with a satisfied smile- but he made no move to escape. Something I found odd since I could feel my grip on him turn to nothing. In fact, my grip on everything turned to nothing. I hardly noticed Robert touching me on the forehead with two bloody fingers, just before Eddie pierced his chest with a stake. The touch seemed to spread throughout my body, creating a familiar feeling- only I couldn't remember what it was. It took over every sense of my body, then quickly buried itself behind my wound's sensation.

The warm feeling in my side came back, despite never having really left. It didn't feel bad, but I knew it wasn't good, and I had to make it go away.

It probably would have been smart to take a second and think about what I did next, but to be fair, I was in shock.

I wrapped my hands around the cue, and ripped it out. Eddie's voice sounded in the distance.

"Rose, no!"

Red blossomed much faster than before. Now there was nothing to keep the blood inside my body.

Eddie knelt down next to me, pressing his hands down on the wound. He started yelling again but it sounded too far away now.

Sydney burst into the room, then Abe, followed by the others. Except the other Alchemist and Clarence. Abe took one look at me and turned to Sydney, mouth moving, like he was barking an order. Although whatever he said to her was lost on me, I could still see his expression. He was terrified. This wasn't the first time he'd seen me dying helplessly on the floor.

Everything started turning to black, and before I could wonder if I'd escape death for a miraculous third time, Robert's touch came back to me- along with the familiarity it brought. I remembered it now, as I was transported somewhere I hadn't been in what felt like forever. Lissa's head.

SYDNEY

"Get Adrian, now!"

I was already scared enough of Abe, of _Zmey_ , as it was, so when he ordered me to go get the Moroi from outside, I listened. Not that I wouldn't have done it anyway, to help Rose. Though what help a sarcastic smoker could do was beyond me. Unless he had some magic healing powers.

Wait.


End file.
